Valorant’s new agent will be a Controller, according to Riot Games Character Producer John Goscicki. The studio released a ‘State of the Agents’ update recently that talked about the game’s current state and how they want to design the next agent. Yoru has been one of the more disappointing agents in the game, and despite him being a Duelist, which continues to be a prevalent class, he has a low pick rate. Valorant’s new agent will try to shake up the Controller meta of Brimstone and Omen. Viper is the only controller that does not see much play, and the addition of a new agent in Valorant in the category along with upcoming balance changes will turn the meta around.
Fans have been asking for another new Controller for months, and Riot Games is finally addressing the issue in an upcoming update. They have not revealed any specific details on the upcoming agent. The studio revealed that the new agent would see a shift from the usual Controller playstyle the playerbase is used to. Valorant’s new agent is meant for “galaxy brain players out there that like to study everything that happens on a map.”
Before the recent Brimstone buffs, Omen was the only Controller seeing play in high ranks and esports. Recent nerfs to Omen and tweaks to Brimstone have bridged the gap between the two Controllers, but Viper continues to be outshined by the other two characters in the category. Viper is set to receive some buffs in the future, but they will not be implemented in today’s Escalation Mode patch.
The Valorant team wants to tweak Viper until they figure where she fits between the other two popular choices Brimstone and Omen. Riot talked about how Viper needs to have a unique place in the roster and have a highlighted play pattern that defines her. The team did not reveal what buffs they have in store for the character yet.
Riot Games is not only working on Valorant’s new agent, but they also want to improve where the game’s previous agent Yoru stands in the roster. Despite the hype surrounding Yoru, he did not break into the Duelist meta as well as Riot wanted to. Character Producer John Goscicki revealed Yoru’s “his infiltration tools are not leading to the level of success we’d hoped for. So, given the current state of Yoru, we’re looking into some near future buffs.”
RELATED: Valorant Escalation Mode: New Game Mode Leaked